Keeping Out the Wrong Kind of Light

Light comes in the front of the camera through the lens. But it can also come in the back, giving unwanted results.

Categories: TipsTags: Long ExposureLast updated about 1 year ago // Originally published about 1 year ago

We expect light to come in the front of the camera. Shooting with the lens cap on doesn't tend to work so well. But we don't always expect it to come in the back.

If you're shooting with your eye to the optical viewfinder of a DSLR, it's pretty unlikely that you'll have this problem because your face blocks the light. And it's not an issue with digital viewfinders and non-through-the-lens viewfinders (ie. non-DSLRs).

It's also not something you really have to worry about in everyday shooting because it requires a fairly specific combination of circumstances before you start getting any visual impact. It's mostly an issue only if you're shooting with a tripod (especially with a cable or remote shutter release) or using the LCD screen. And even then, it mostly shows up in long exposures. So it's not necessarily an everyday issue, but if you're shooting long exposures it is certainly something that you can come across. And even if the effect isn't as dramatic as in the example below, it is possible for those little light leaks to affect your image quality.

The problem is that on a DSLR, even light coming from behind the camera through the viewfinder can flood the camera internally with light, coming in through the eyepiece, bouncing off the mirror, and eventually reaching the sensor.

The examples below are quite extreme, but they're also real-world examples.

These two shots were taken seconds apart with exactly the same settings, on a tripod, with a cable release. Both used an ND filter to create a long exposure in an attempt to blur the tourists who were starting to appear on the Lincoln Memorial's steps.

The only difference in taking these shots is that in the first one, I shaded the direct sunlight from shining on the viewfinder on the back of the camera. On the second one, the sun was shining directly on the viewfinder. And being shortly after sunrise, the angle of the sun was very low, shining straight in.

Some cameras include am eyepiece cap in their supplied accessories. You can also buy them as accessories. But most of the time it's simpler just to use a bit of tape or simply shade the viewfinder with your hand.

As I said, this is a pretty extreme example. It's a dramatic example because of the combination of a long exposure and the sun shining directly into the viewfinder. But it is a real-world example that despite what you might read around the traps, it is possible for light to leak through the viewfinder of a DSLR.

Categories: TipsTags: Long Exposure Originally published about 1 year ago Last updated about 1 year ago

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News & Deals

Some recent news and deals that have caught my eye.

Ricoh GR III available for pre-order. Ricoh has formally announced the GR III, the latest in their GR series of minimalist street shooters. On paper, it’s not a massive upgrade over the GR II, but there are some useful improvements. Highlights include: 24.2MP APS-C CMOS sensor, GR Engine 6, built-in shake reduction, and a trimmed down body. It still has a 28mm ƒ/2.8 lens (35mm equivalent). The back screen is now a touchscreen, and it has Bluetooth and wifi connectivity as well as a USB-C port. It’s priced at $899 with an expected availability of March 18. I’ve ordered one and will be posting a hands-on review when I’ve had a chance to do some shooting with it. You can preorder now from B&H Photo.

New gear announcements: Nikon 24-70mm ƒ/2.8 for Z mirrorless system; Fujifilm X-T30 APS-C mirrorless camera; Canon EOS RP full-frame mirrorless camera. Nikon has announced a new 24-70mm ƒ/2.8 for their new full-frame mirrorless ecosystem. It’s priced at $2,2297 and available for pre-order now. Canon has announced a new entry-level full-frame mirrorless camera with a 26.2MP sensor and 4K video for a very competitive $1299 (body only) or $2200 with a 24-105mm lens. It’s available for pre-order now, with expected availability at the end of February.. And Fujifilm is releasing a stripped-down version of the X-T3 in a smaller and lighter package, which they’re calling the X-T30, priced at $899 (body only). Preorders for it open at noon on February 15 at B&H Photo.

$1400 off the LaCie 2TB Bolt 3 Thunderbolt 3 External SSD. With this special blowout deal, B&H has $1400 off the superfast external SSD drive with dual Thunderbolt 3 ports. It brings it down to a very attractive $599. Find it here.

$200 off the Nikon D850. For the first time the D850 is on sale, with $200 off at B&H, bringing it down to $3096.95 for the body. Includes SanDisk 64GB Extreme Pro SD card, a shoulder bag, and free expedited shipping. Find the deal here.

$100 off HERO7 Black or Fusion with new TradeUp deal. GoPro has launched a new trade up deal for the HERO7 Black and Fusion cameras where you get $100 by trading in any old GoPro or digital camera in any condition, whether it’s working or not. There are very few restrictions: the original retail price of the camera was at least $99.99 and the delivery has to be in the US. GoPro even covers the cost of shipping your old camera in as well as 2-day shipping with the new camera. The deal is only available on GoPro.com–you can find it here.

New Olympus OM-D E-M1X Rugged and Fast Micro Four Thirds Pro Camera. Olympus has announced their new OM-D E-M1X, a Micro Four Thirds mirrorless camera that is weather sealed and fast, making it a very attractive option for wildlife, sports, and adventure travel photography. It’s not small–it has a built-in vertical grip that also gives extra battery space–but it looks like it’ll stand up well to the rigors of adventuring with a rugged body. It has a 20MP Micro Four Thirds sensor, Olympus’s latest image processing engine, built-in sensor stabilization, and a nifty-sounding autofocus system that recognizes more than faces. It looks like just the ticket for my next trip to Antarctica; stay tuned for my hands-on review. The body is $3000, and it’s available for preorder now at B&H Photo with expected availability on Feburary 25.

Sony a6400 Mirrorless Camera. Sony has announced the new Alpha a6400 mirrorless camera. It has a 24.2MP APS-C sensor and a raft new of new upgrades over the a6300 while still keeping the same form factor and general approach. There are three options: body only ($898), with a 16-50mm lens ($998), or with a 18-135mm lens ($1298). Now available for preorder at B&H Photo.

1TB SD cards are hitting the market. After some corporate tumult in recent years, Lexar is signaling its revival by launching the first consumer 1TB SD card. It’s rated for V30 and is in its long-standing 633x Lexar Professional range. You can pre-order from B&H for $399.99.

Nikon D750 body for $1297. Presumably clearing out stock to make way for a new model, the Nikon D750 is heavily discounted at $700 off, down to $1297. Also includes a spare battery, shoulder bag, and memory card. You can find it here.

FujiFilm X-T2 and X-T3 savings. There are some great savings to be had on the X-T2 and X-T3 at the moment. There are various bundles with different savings amounts, but as some examples, you can get the X-T2 body with hand grip kit for $1208 (which is $500 off), the X-T2+18-55mm lens kit for $1608 ($400 off), and $100 off the X-T3 body.

New firmware for FujiFilm X-T3. FujiFilm has released v.2.00 of the firmware for the X-T3. It adds some new video features, including: “the ability to record 4K HDR video in Hybrid Log Gamma (HLG) format, bringing it up-to-date with the latest HDR technology. In addition, the X-T3 will be able to record Film Simulation and F-log footage simultaneously, and videographers will be able to record more than 4GB of footage in one shot. Further upgrades include the display of color temperature (kelvin) on the EVF and LCD, along with support for slower DCI 4K and 4K shutter speeds of 29.97p, 25p, 24p, and 23.98p.” You can find the new firmware here.

Ricoh GR III sticks with APS-C sized sensor. According to an interview with a Ricoh executive, the GR III won’t have a full-frame sensor because of concerns about compromises that would have to be made, particularly with lens quality. So the upcoming GR III will be sticking with the APS-C sized sensor of previous models. Early leaks of what is presumably a prototype suggest it looks basically identical to the GR II. As a GR fan myself, I’m looking forward to this one. Top of my wishlist is better low-light performance, although it looks like the new model is sticking with the ƒ/2.8 maximum aperture rather than something faster but does bump up available ISO to 102400.

Photos of a village in western Spain by Juan Manuel Castro Prieto. The New York Times Lens section features some beautiful large-format images by Juan Manuel Castro Prieto from his decades-long project to capture his ancestral village of Cespedosa in western Spain. You can see them here.

DJI Osmo Pocket Gimbal announced. This tiny, stabilized, 4K camera has some really interesting features, especially compared to something like the new GoPro HERO7 Black. Both shoot 4K60 stabilized footage, but while the HERO7 Black relies on electronic stabilization (which does, admittedly, work well in this case), the DJI uses a real gimbal that comes in the form of a built-in handle grip. The DJI offers higher bitrates of up to 100 Mb/s (compared to a max of 78Mb/s on the GoPro), and has various tracking modes. For stills, it can shoot both JPG and RAW (DNG) and also has time-lapse, motionlapse, nightshot, and panoramic modes. They’re priced at $349 and available now at B&H Photo. And stay tuned for my hands-on review.

Google Images now displaying Copyright and Credit status. When it’s available in IPTC. They’ve been doing something like this for large images for a while, but they’ve tweaked the system again.

New #1 Fastest SD Card. There’s a new #1 fastest SD card in my speed tests: the ProGrade Digital V90 card. It edges out the previous fastest from Sony. You can find details here. I’ve also added some new SanDisk cards to the

Ricoh GRIII in development. Ricoh’s GR series cameras have something of a cult following as small, high-quality cameras with a lot of options for control–a no-frills compact without some of the bells and whistles that can become distractions. I routinely put a GRII in my pack when I’m traveling. They’ve now finally (!) announced the new version, the GRIII. There’s much that sounds like it will share quite a lot of specs with the older model–an APS-C sized CMOS sensor, magnesium alloy body, a 28mm (equivalent) ƒ/2.8 lens. But the new model will have a redesigned lens, new sensor, and new imaging engine. It’s scheduled to be launched in early 2019.

New Nikon 500mm ƒ/5.6E VR lens. Smaller and lighter. Sports and wildlife photographers will appreciate the smaller size and lighter weight of this new super-telephoto prime from Nikon. The magic ingredient that allows for the smaller footprint is apparently that it uses a “Phase Fresnel element.” It’s designed for FX format, has an aperture range of ƒ/5.6 to ƒ/32, weighs a bit over 3 pounds, and has built-in VR. It’s available for pre-order here for $3600.